Archives for June 2008

Mixed martial arts (MMA) is on of those hobbies I’ve never even considered. I can’t image stepping into a ring or the dreaded octagon to exchange punches with some of the animals that love this hobby. Watching this sport on tv gives makes me instantly tense. I simply can’t imaging actually participating.

Considering some other hobbies out there, MMA is a relatively cheap sport to get into. For a couple hundred bucks you can get all the mma gear you need to get started safely in this increasingly popular sport. If you’re a glutton for punishment just get yourself a pair of mma gloves and get in the ring. My guess is you’ll want to think twice about that little stunt unless you’re on the cast of Jackass.

MMA does happen to have a lot of benefits associated with it. The most obvious of those is self defense. Lets face it. If you even trained a couple times a week you’d have no problem dealing with a situation at the grocery store when somebody is getting out of hand. You’ll be able to defend your girl the next time some clown gets out of line at the bar or your favorite sporting event after they’ve had one to many.

Another benefit of MMA is the physical fitness aspect. Training in MMA will improve your cardiovascular system as well as tone up those muscles. It’s also pretty likely you’ll find a few muscles you never knew you had as well. Not only will your muscles become stronger you’ll learn the techniques to actually use your strength effectively. Another physical aspect of your body that will change is your flexibility. Some of the moves required to fight will tax every fiber of your body. You’ll also need some flexibility to get out of those nasty submission holds. The last benefit is your quickness. Being stronger and more flexibiltly will greatly increase your speed / quickness. Not only will your body be faster so will your mind.

One other cool thing about MMA is that you won’t just learn karate or judo or tae kwon do. If you’re going to excel in MMA you’re going to need some stellar wrestling skills, a man sized punch, as well as some submission techniques to keep your opponent guessing.

Coming from a man of many hobbies this truly is a work of art. The sky is the limit on this one as there are so many different ways you could run with this. If you twist your wires right, this just might be one of those hobbies that make money.

Imagine yourself out to sea with your best buddy. Now imagine looking at a computer monitor for 10 – 12 hours looking for something out of the ordinary. That’s just what Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville do for their hobby. They basically cruise the water looking for shipwrecks.

It turns out they are quite good at hunting shipwrecks. Over the past 35 years, Kennard has managed to find over 200 shipwrecks. The past 6 years he and Scoville have been partnered up and have invested tens of thousands of dollars in their hobby. Kennard said “It’s a hobby and hobbies can be expensive”. I think that’s an understatement.

The team was on the hunt of their lives. They were in search of a 22 gun warship called the HMS Ontario. They knew the ship was only a few hours into a voyage from Niagra to Rochester when it got caught in a violent storm. Legend has it that the HMS Ontario was carrying a small fortune of gold as a year’s pay for the British garrison.

Over the course of nearly 3 years the team covered 500,000 square kilometers in search of the holy grail of shipwrecks, watching the sonar scanner for anything that might resemble a shipwreck. When the sonar starting showing the resemblance of a ship, the duo was ecstatic. They were pretty sure they had found the Ontario but they couldn’t be sure until they were able to drop a remote-controlled submersible.

Once the weather cleared and the team was able to head back out to their secret location they dropped the sub. What they found was incredible. The Ontario was virtually unscathed, as it was sunk by a rogue wave. The two crows nests are intact on each of the masts. Several of the 22 guns are still in their original locations on the deck and the anchor still in place.

The team is hoping to take a documentary team to the site to capture the ship wreck in all its glory. However, “We’re not saying exactly where it is,” Kennard says. “It’s a British war grave and we want to make sure it remains undisturbed. But it’s nowhere near Oswego.” So with that, the team moves on to their next hunt – hoping and praying it will be as big of a discovery as the Ontario.

I think it’s safe to say that none of us will ever hunt as big a treasure as these two gentlemen. Hats off to your discovery and a remarkable hobby.

Since ‘reading’ is the #1 most popular hobby I figured I’d give you guys a couple of novels to chew on. These are the top 10 novels recommended by Random House. Some probably tout these as the top 10 novels you should read in your lifetime.

Looking at the list I’ve got a lot of reading to do.

ULYSSES by James Joyce

THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald

A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN by James Joyce

LOLITA by Vladimir Nabokov

BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley

THE SOUND AND THE FURY by William Faulkner

CATCH-22 by

DARKNESS AT NOON by Arthur Koestler

SONS AND LOVERS by D.H. Lawrence

THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck

What is it about reading that makes it such a popular hobby? My guess is that it’s a chance to escape from reality. Thats what hobbies are all about – relaxation. Think about why reality tv is so popular, which happens to be the #2 most popular hobby. People sit down and zone completely out of their world for a couple hours and truly relax. It’s a beautiful thing.